“It was a Knight to remember for the Bainbridge Spartan volleyball squad – but definitely an evening to forget for visiting Bremerton.As guitars played in a homecoming rally in the courtyard outside the gymnasium, the Spartans pounded the Knights Thursday, 15-4, 15-5, 15-13.I thought we did OK, Bainbridge coach Julie Miller said after the win. With it being homecoming week and all the noise outside, we had some focus problems in the third game.Ironically, each game started out with the visiting Bremerton girls putting the first points on the board, 1-0. In the first game, the Knights didn’t see another point register on the board until the Bainbridge girls had tallied a 5-1 lead. Some strong serves from the Bremerton side brought the Knights to within two at 5-3 – but it was the closest the visitors would come to the girls in blue and gold. “
“The Bainbridge High School girls’ varsity soccer team snapped a three-game losing streak with victories this week against Port Townsend and Bremerton.The Spartans, 3-3-1 on the season, got a breather from a tough slate of 4A opponents with a 6-0 romp on the Redskins’ home turf Tuesday night. Junior Suzanne Fossum, normally a defender, scored twice against the winless opponent. Christen Faltermeier, Fab Rezayat, Lauren Hume and Adriana Gonzalez-Medina each tallied once. Rezayat and Emily Haber each had assists.Thursday, Lindsay Carlson scored the second of her two goals in the 34th minute of play to snap a 1-1 tie in a home contest against the 2-5 Knights. Her first goal, in the 14th minute, was on a 20-yard run on a through-ball from Hume, while her second was unassisted.Sophomore Crisma Biggs contributed an insurance goal just 22 seconds later before the two teams settled into a second-half defensive struggle.It was nice to go and have a couple of kick-back games, Bainbridge coach Susan Fowler said. It gave the girls a chance for a little sigh of relief before we play against NK on Tuesday – and that should be a real tough game. “
“Perhaps, by the time you read the paper, the Bainbridge High School girls’ varsity soccer team will have finally caught a break.The Spartans certainly didn’t get one Monday night against Olympic.Despite matching the visiting 4A squad virtually shot for shot, the Trojans got the last blast – a header goal by Emily Tracy with barely two minutes remaining – to send Bainbridge to its third straight loss by a 3-2 score.The loss obscured how well-played the game was on both ends, however, after the two rivals entered the second half with a scoreless tie. “
“A little history lesson may provide some healthy perspective on the Bainbridge High School girls’ soccer team’s two losses to key Olympic League foes this week.Last year’s Spartans stumbled off the blocks to a sluggish start, treading water at a less-than-break-even pace through the season’s midpoint.After that, however, Bainbridge team members pulled themselves together in dramatic fashion, vanquishing two key 4A league rivals in the late going en route to an eventual berth in the state 3A Sweet Sixteen tournament.This year’s start – a win and a tie, followed by tough Olympic League losses Tuesday and Thursday to 4A standard-bearers Port Angeles and Central Kitsap – suggests the Spartans may repeat last season’s first-half storyline. “
“The Bainbridge Spartan boys’ and girls’ cross country teams ran away with victories on the North Kitsap home course Thursday afternoon.In the boys’ race, seniors Evan Galloway and Andy Reese led the Spartan charge with a one-two finish, as Bainbridge chalked up just 21 points (low score wins), followed by North Kitsap at 44 and Sequim 53. Galloway ran the three-mile course in 16:20, with teammate Reese in hot pursuit at 16:22. The closest opponent was Jim Robson of North Kitsap, finishing third at 16:33.Also finishing in scoring positions for the Spartans were Colin Kuester in fourth, Steve Gardiner in sixth and Max Gordon in eighth. Taking 13th and 14th in the 21-runner field for Bainbridge were Tim Freeman and Chad Weldy.The score was not so decisive in the girls’ race for the Spartans. Sequim leader Kierstein Bailey won the race in a sizzling 19:20, outpacing the field by over a minute. However, the Bainbridge runners packed in all five scoring runners in the top 11 to take the team title.Bainbridge scored 29 points, followed by North Kitsap 36 and Sequim 97. Leading the way for the Spartans were junior Sarah Grue, in second place at 20:26, and junior Audrey Bennett, in third place at 21:08. Also scoring for Bainbridge were Sara Dean in sixth place, Colleen Burke in seventh and Lia Layton in 11th.Rounding out the Spartan girls’ contingent were Chrisy Lubovich in 12th, Carla Inch 15th, Anna Greist 16th, Mackenzie Adams 17th, Kathryn Bergh 19th, Mikal Hemingway 20th and Jamie Fleischfresser 22nd.Bainbridge’s Paul Lang won the boys’ junior varsity race in 17:21.The Spartan runners will be at Bremerton next Thursday for another three-way meet with Bremerton and Klahowya. “
“Playing in fits and starts this season, BHS volleyball has the potential, but not always the execution.After a Friday loss to Central Kitsap and a fourth place out of eight teams in last weekend’s White River tournament, coach Julie Miller blamed plain old inconsistency.They’re really hot and cold, Miller said. We’ve got one half really intense and the other half not so intense. Everybody needs to get on the same path. “
” The Bainbridge Spartan junior-varsity football team members may have thought they were looking in a mirror Monday as the Chimacum Cowboys took the field. The visiting team had mistakenly brought their home dark uniforms, and were forced to borrow the Bainbridge High School gold visitors’ togs for play. But the Spartan name emblazoned across the jerseys on both sides of scrimmage was about the only similarity between the opponents, as Bainbridge romped to a 47-19 victory. “
“In a game suggesting its standing in district competition, the Spartans girls’ soccer team blasted Sequim 8-0 Tuesday night on the home field.I was surprised, coach Susan Fowler said. Sequim, in the past, has been very strong.Bainbridge came on strong from the beginning, making two shots on the goal in the first six minutes of play. First blood was drawn by senior Laura Hume in the 14th minute of the first half.By the midpoint of the game, the score was 3-0, and within the first 14 minutes of the second half, the lead was pushed to 6-0.I think they got discouraged after that first flurry of goals in the second half, Fowler said. “
“In their opening meet of the season, the Bainbridge women’s swim team took every event but one, leaving North Kitsap to go home nearly empty-handed. As a bonus, two Bainbridge swimmers qualified for the state meet in November.The meet went well, said coach Greg Colby. Especially considering that people weren’t swimming their main events – it was just really good for them to race and have a meet.Leslie Wukstich qualified for state with a 1:02:03 in the 100-meter butterfly, almost four full seconds under the state time.Emily Silver also qualified in her lead-off role for the freestyle relay. She swam her 50-meter leg in 25:30. The state time is 26:00. “
“Bainbridge didn’t lose its football opener because of the little things. It lost because of the big things.Big things like a 75-yard touchdown pass. Or like an interception return for a score. And big things like 290-pound Mitchell Johnson, the Washington Patriots’ man-mountain of an offensive center, defensive end and demon kicker.The kids played hard, but they made a few big plays on us, Spartan coach Andy Grimm said. But the kids are buying into the idea that if we execute well, we can be okay. “
“Keeping the ball alive was the secret for Bainbridge who scored a win against Port Townsend Thursday night.It marked the second victory for the Spartans, who defeated Peninsula Wednesday.I think Bainbridge was a little more nervous today, said coach Julie Miller. Unlike Peninsula, Port Townsend is in our league and the crowd tonight was much bigger.Long rallies proved crucial in the game that ended 15-8, 15-12, 15-2.Bainbridge’s opening serves in the first game portended the final outcome as senior Michelle Purdom sent two unreturned serves into the Port Townsend ranks.The second game, Port Townsend’s closest, started sluggish, the score reaching 1-4 for the visitors before Bainbridge rallied. The third game opened with a Spartan ace. Their spirits apparently dampened by the first two games, Port Townsend fell quickly in the third. “
“Cross-country is more than just running. It’s about the balance between the team and the individual, relying on others and relying on oneself.To some extent, you get this in all sports, said Richard Christopher, coach of the Bainbridge High School cross-country team, but in cross-country, you really have to dig down inside to get the courage to compete. It can be pretty scary to dig that deep sometimes.Though runners cross the finish line alone, cross-country scoring is done on a team basis, requiring strategy and trust. “
“Despite the unusually large exodus of last year’s seniors, the Bainbridge women’s swim team isn’t worried at all.This year’s team is easily as good as last year’s, said coach Greg Colby, and quite possibly even better.The team lost twelve seniors – a formidable number in the annual egress from high school swimming – though only one was a state swimmer, leaving five returning state veterans.We lost a lot of people, but we also have fast swimmers coming back, said team captain Allison Stover.Calling this year’s team deep, Colby mentioned the loss of last year’s leadership, but looked forward to watching returners and transfers perform. “
